Organ Gala at the Festival Hall, SE1

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After being dismantled, removed, rejigged and refitted, the Royal Festival Hall’s organ was back on the job on Tuesday after almost a decade away. There it stood, 7,866 pipes arrayed before us like the world’s biggest drinks cabinet. The organ is the instrumental world’s king of beasts and we needed to hear it roar.

Unfortunately it only roared on and off, sometimes because of the music played, like Franck’s doleful Fantaisie in A. Then there’s the building’s acoustic. Unlike a cathedral or the Albert Hall, the Festival Hall has little echo. Any sound quickly dies, though that didn’t stop Isabelle